Avant Garden
by Aozame Yokujin
Summary: 11 years after the end of the series. Faye and Jett have a contract on THEIR heads for a change, but the assassin sent to deal with them is... Spike? R&R//AU ALERT!!!
1. Prologue - Liam

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This is a prologue, I promise there is more… ^^;; Anyway, Disclaimer junk: I do not own Cowboy Bebop. Avant Garden is taken from the title of an Aerosmith song, seeing as how 95% of the Cowboy Bebop eps were named for songs. I DO however, own Liam. He's mine, mine I tell you! Anyway, yeah, don't sue me, etc… For those wondering, I have another CB fic called "Under My Skin" also named for an Aerosmith song… I'm just using a different account right now cos mine is screwed. Yare, yare… I'll shut up now.

Oh, and the prologue here, takes place 7 years after the end of the series, but the rest takes place 11 years after the end.

***

"Liam! You little shit! Get your scrawny ass back here!"

Liam ignored the cries and kept running. He wasn't going back. Ever.

"Liam!!"

He ran harder, pushing his long legs to their extreme. He heard the sound of heavy boots hitting the sidewalk behind him. There was no way he was going back, not to that, not ever. Liam slid around the corner and skidded to a stop. It was a dead end.

"Shit!" Liam murmured to himself. He turned around and saw his pursuer stalking toward him.

"You little bastard, how dare you run away from me! After all that I've done for you! I took you in when your mother died, I fed you, clothed you, and this is how you repay me!?" the man stopped in front of Liam and raised his hand, as if to hit the thirteen-year-old. Liam closed his eyes, waiting for the strike that never came. Instead, there was a gunshot. Liam's eyes opened widely and he watched the man who had been chasing him fall slowly to the ground, dead. Liam blinked and stared down the alleyway at the man standing at the end, holding a smoking gun. He could tell by the way that the man was dressed that he was a Red Dragon syndicate lackey. All in black, with a pair of sunglasses on, holding a gun. The man walked toward Liam purposefully and stopped when he reached the body.

"What are you looking at, kid?" he asked, levelling the barrel of the gun with Liam's head. Liam glanced calmly down the barrel of the gun and locked eyes with the man behind it. The man froze, and his eyes widened. He had been sent to get rid of the man, not the kid, but the kid had seen him. The kid wasn't scared though, he looked almost as if he welcomed death. The man lowered his gun and just stared at the kid. He had striking green eyes, they reminded him of a cat.

"…What's your name, kid?"

"Liam."

"Go home to your parents."

"Me parents are dead."

"I'm sorry I had to kill your old man, he owed the Syndicate some money and was kinda late on the payback…."

"He's not me old man."

"Oh?"

"Nah, he was me uncle."

"You got a weird accent, kid."

"Wass wrong wif' me accent?"

"I dunno, it's just weird. Go home to your mom."

"Me mum's dead."

"Then go home to your dad."

"He's dead too."

"You don't have anyone, then?"

"Nah." The gunman scratched his head in frustration and holstered his gun. _I can't just leave him here… What the hell am I saying? Of course I can. The boss wouldn't like having a kid around… Though he could be useful… As a spy or something, they'd never suspect a kid… Hmmm…_

"…Fine then, come with me."

"Wif' you?"

"Yeah."

"You're wif' the Syndicate?"

"Yeah."

"You gonna kill me?"

"Nah."

"Why should I go wif' you 'den?"

"…Where else do you have to go?"


	2. The Top Floor

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AN: Jett and Faye show up in this chapter. I hope you like. I have a lot of prewritten material on this story, so I'm going to try pacing my release of the chapters. Again, I don't own Cowboy Bebop. I do own Liam, Thakur, and Mike.

***

"Wow, an interview with the Boss… Damn Liam, I've been in Red Dragon for ten years and I still haven't met the Boss yet. How d'you do it?" Mike wondered. Liam leaned against the wall outside of the elevator and shrugged.

"I dunno," he replied, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his black suit jacket. He took one cigarette out and placed it between his lips. "I guess I'm just talented…" he murmured, trying not to let the cigarette fall out of his mouth while he searched for a lighter. Mike pulled one out of his pocket and held the flame out for Liam. Liam leaned forward and breathed in deeply.

"Thanks," he said to Mike, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and blowing the smoke into the air.

"No problem…" Mike smiled. "Yeah, I guess you are talented. I sure as hell didn't teach you how to move like that." Liam smirked and took another drag of the cigarette just as the elevator doors opened.

"Genetics a bitch, ain't it?" Liam winked at Mike and stepped onto the elevator. He hit the button for the 124th floor and leaned against the back of the elevator.

"Yeah, probably," Mike called through the closing doors. Liam took another long drag from his cigarette and sighed. He certainly didn't deserve the job he knew was coming, Mike did. Mike had been with the Syndicate much longer, and Mike was a team player. Liam closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He'd always been a loner, never played nicely with the other children; except Mike, but Mike had been the guy that had taken him in. Kinda like an older brother or something. He was probably only getting jobs like this because of his dad anyway.

The elevator finally came to a stop and the door slid open. Liam stepped off of the elevator to find himself in an immense hallway. There were four large men at the end of the hallway, next to a set of double doors. Liam stuck his hands in his pockets and walked toward them.

"Liam Arkwright?" one of the men asked, stepping forward. Liam nodded. "Your gun," the man said, holding out his hand. Liam narrowed his eyes.

"…No," Liam replied, staring over the edge of his sunglasses at the man. The other guards stiffened their postures, they didn't want to fight with the kid; they'd heard stories about how good he was.

"Excuse me?" the man inquired. He gave Liam a look that said, _Don't fuck with me kid._

"You didn't ask nicely…" Liam replied.

"Why you little…" the larger man growled and swung at Liam, who easily moved out of the way. He stuck his leg out and watched as the man tripped and hit the floor.

"You were saying?" Liam said, nonchalantly. Another guard came forward.

"Could you please leave your gun here, Mr. Arkwright?" the second man asked. Liam pushed his sunglasses up and shrugged.

"Sure," he replied and relinquished his weapon to the second guard.

"And your other gun?"

"I only carry one."

"Sir, it's very important that you give us all your weapons," the man insisted.

"…I only have _one_," Liam said slowly, emphasising each word.

"It's standard procedure for all employees to have two weapons, Mr. Arkwright."

"Yes, I know it's standard procedure, but I only carry one," Liam replied, pursing his lips. The man swallowed nervously and nodded. The doors opened and Liam stepped inside. It was the penthouse at the top of the Red Dragon building. Everyone who had ever gone in that room hadn't come back out again as the same person. It was a pretty famous room in the syndicate. Supposedly, about ten years ago, two members of Red Dragon had it out here and destroyed the whole original room as well as killing each other. Liam hated hearing that story over and over again, because everyone always made a point to stare at him while they told it. He walked slowly into the room and stuck his hands in his pockets again. The desk in front of him wasn't large, but the rest of the room was well furnished. Liam leaned against a pillar and waited. The chair behind the desk slowly spun around to face Liam. In it, was an older man, who looked rather distinguished; this was Reeve Thakur, the man in charge of Red Dragon's business and security issues. He smiled at Liam and folded his hands on the desk.

"Liam Arkwright. It's a pleasure to finally meet you," Thakur said. Liam took another drag from his cigarette and stayed silent. "I'm sure you're wondering why I asked for you…"

"Not really," Liam replied.

"Hmm?"

"…You have a job for me."

Thakur chuckled. "I had forgotten how quickly secrets spread through this building… Yes, we would like to use your talents."

"…Who's the mark?" Liam said, dropping the cigarette on the floor and stepping on it. Thakur watched him quietly and narrowed his eyes.

"You get right down to business, don't you?" Liam leaned over and picked up the cigarette stub and slipped it in his pocket. Thakur pushed a button on his desk, and the screen behind him lit up, showing a photo. "This is Jett Black. He's forty-seven years old, a former ISSP agent and a former bounty hunter. A few years back, he and his partner caught a rather sizeable bounty and invested it. They now own The Blues Café, downtown. It's a casino and night-club in one. He is your first target." Liam studied the man's face for a while. "This is your second target, his partner, Faye Valentine," Thakur continued, another photo was shown. "Not much is known about her past, we're guessing that she's about thirty-two years old."

"Why are they marked?"

"Does it matter?"

"…Not really."

"Let's just say their eyes are too sharp and their mouths are too big, shall we?" Liam nodded. "Your final target is very elusive. A hacker, called 'Ed', has been poking around in our files, looking for info on these two people, as well as a few others. The hacker then, after he had gotten all the info he needed, sent us a little present that wiped about a quarter of our databanks. This hacker has been traced to Earth, but it seems that he jumped the first flight out to Mars, so you'll need to do some hunting on this one." Thakur placed a disc on his desk. "This is all the info on them you'll need, habits, likes and dislikes, favourite hangouts, vices, etc… We'd like this to look like an accident if possible."

"Fine."

"Good. Welcome to the top floor, Mr. Arkwright…."

***

"Okay, Jett, thanks for the info…. Hey, you and Faye might want to take a vacation or something, just get away for a while."

"Hm? What do you mean?" Jett asked the face on the screen.

"They know."

"Who?"

"Red Dragon… They know you've been informing to ISSP. I think this is a great time to take a looooong vacation."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Jett, don't be an idiot, think of Faye-" the screen went black. Jett sat back and sighed. Faye was downstairs in the club, rubbing elbows with bigwigs, and flirting. He heard a loud click of a safety being flipped off.

"Nice joke, Faye, but I'm not gonna give you more money just cos you have a gun. You tried that already, remember?" Jett said, smiling. He turned in the direction of the noise and saw a tall, thin man standing there with a large gun pointed at his head.

"I'm not Faye," he said in a soft, slightly accented voice. Jett stared at him, taking in the details. He was wearing a black suit and tie, typical to the Red Dragon employees, and a pair of sunglasses. Jett could see a long, ragged scar down the right side of his face, but what really attracted Jett's attention was the green, shaggy hair, and the long, thin structure of his face.

"…Spike?" Jett whispered, his eyes growing wider. The man winced involuntarily at the calling of that name and cocked the gun.

"Name's not Spike, Mr. Black. Can you put your hands where I can see them?" Jett raised his hands a little so that the man could see he didn't have any weapons. "Good, now where's your partner?" the man asked. Jett shrugged casually and glanced behind the guy at Faye, who had just entered the room. She had her gun drawn and pointed at the intruder. The man noticed Jett's sudden change of attention and ducked just as Faye pulled the trigger of her gun. Jett quickly grabbed his own gun out from under the seat cushion and pointed it at the intruder who was on the ground. He had his gun pointed at Faye.

"We've got you outnumbered mister…" Faye said, her lip curling up a little at the corner.

"I've dealt with worse odds," he replied. Faye gasped slightly as she got a better look at him.

"Spike!" she exclaimed, lowering her gun barrel, just a fraction. The man took advantage of her surprise and swung his legs around, tripping her. He grabbed her gun, and pointed it at her head. He pointed the other one at Jett.

"I don't know what's with you two, but I'm not Spike," he replied, seemingly irritated. "Now, please, just die quietly so I can go home?" He cocked the gun next to Faye's head. She grit her teeth and closed her eyes, waiting for him to pull the trigger. She jumped at the sound of two gunshots and gasped.

The pain never came. Faye opened her eyes slowly and saw Jett leaning over the intruder, whose shoulder was bleeding pretty badly. Jett's arm was sparking a little; the bullet had missed hitting anything organic. Faye stared at the unconscious man's face while Jett opened his shirt to get to the wound.

"…Jett…" she whispered as he covered the wound with a cloth and picked the man up.

"I know… I have a feeling I'm going to regret not killing him…"


	3. The Bebop

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AN: Bugger all, I've always been horrible about pacing pre-written material… I like putting chapters out waaaaay too much. ^^;; Oh well. The appearance of Ed! Yay for Ed! As for Liam's accent, since someone asked. It's not Irish, it's more cockney actually. You don't really find out about the accent, just that he has one. Since you asked though, he picked it up from his grandfather and his mother, his grandfather immigrated to Mars from Earth, where he lived in England. Okay, enjoy this chapter, I'm really going to wait to put out the next one… I have to cos after the next one I'm outta pre-written material and then I'll actually have to write! ^_^;;

-Rhyein/Aozame

***

Liam groaned and opened his eyes slowly. It took a moment for him to remember what had happened. His head and his shoulder hurt like hell. What a great job, so far he'd failed to kill the targets, and had been captured. He knew that if he actually survived this ordeal, his new job would be food tester for Thakur's dog, which was not something he was looking forward to. He tried to raise his hand to his temple, but found he couldn't. Liam glanced down at his hands and saw that he was handcuffed to a couch. He discovered that he could pull himself into a sitting position, and did so. Looking around, he established that he was no longer in the penthouse above the Blues Café. It looked like the interior of an old fishing ship. The tele-screen next to him suddenly flipped on and a woman appeared.

"Spike?! Long-time no see! It's Ed!" the woman said, grinning. Liam blinked.

"Huh?"

Faye walked into the room, drying her hair. She smiled at Liam.

"You're awake…" she began.

"Faye!" the woman on the screen exclaimed. "Faye! It's Ed!" Faye turned her attention to the redheaded woman on the screen.

"Ed? Ed! Holy shit! Look at you!" Faye plopped down on the table in front of the screen. "It's been so long… So what are you up to?"

"Oh, I was just on Mars and I thought I'd check in on you guys… I'm glad to see you're still together." Ed smiled and Faye shook her head.

"Yeah, well Jett and I haven't killed each other yet… How's your dad?"

"…He died a couple months ago… I figured I'd look you guys up, see if you needed an extremely talented hacker around," Ed replied, winking.

"Oh, sorry about your dad… Well, we don't do bounties anymore, but I'm sure Jett wouldn't mind having another mouth to feed…" Faye answered winking back. Ed laughed.

"I'm sure… Well, I'm at the Ganymede Hotel in Crater City, if you wouldn't mind picking me up…" Faye nodded.

"We'll be there."

"Great! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again… Especially you, fluffy head! I got some info you might be interested in," Ed said moving her golden gaze toward Liam. Liam raised an eyebrow uncertainly, what the hell had he gotten himself into? The screen went black and Faye turned toward him.

"…How are you feeling?"

"…Like I've been shot."

"What happened to your face?"

"What are you talking about?"

"That scar, on your face… Did you get that when you fought Vicious?"

"Excuse me?"

"Spike, there's no point in pretending anymore… It's obvious you're not dead."

Liam glared at her, his bright green eyes flaring. "I'm NOT Spike, dammit! Quit calling me that!" Faye startled and moved closer to him. She stared into his green eyes and searched his face for a second. Then she reached out and touched the golden earring that was dangling in his left earlobe.

"You're really not Spike then?" Jett walked into the room.

"Who was on the com?"

"Ed."

"Ed? …You're awake…" he wondered, gazing at Liam.

"Yeah, she's on Mars, at the Ganymede Hotel in Crater City. Was wondering if we were willing to take on an extremely talented hacker for a while…" Faye replied. Jett smiled.

"Ah… That shouldn't be a problem… We do need to figure out what to do with fluffy head here though."

"…I have a name you know…" Liam murmured irately. Jett and Faye looked at him, surprised.

"Are you _sure_ you're not Spike?" Faye asked, raising an eyebrow. Jett shook his head.

"You sure look like him, and besides the accent, you sound like him… but I don't think you are him." Faye glanced at Jett.

"You don't think so?"

"Nah, he's got green eyes… Spike's were brown, remember?"

"There are contacts…"

"He's too young as well… You gotta be, what? 19? 20?"

"…Seventeen," Liam replied. Jett and Faye blinked at him.

"Only seventeen? Man, I feel old…" Jett said, putting a hand to his head. Faye picked up the pack of cigarettes that were on the table next to her and lit one. She blew smoke out toward Liam and smiled seductively.

"So what's your name?"

"…Liam."

"Drop dead Faye, you're too old for him… Hell, you're too old for ME," Jett said, flopping down in the chair across from Liam. Faye glared at him and then turned her nose into the air, ignoring him.

"So Liam, how is it that you came across the face of Spike Spiegel?" Faye asked taking another drag from her cigarette. Jett rolled his eyes and stood up.

"I'm going to set a course to get Ed…" he said, walking toward the bridge.

"I take it you two knew him?" Liam said, narrowing his eyes. Faye turned away from Liam and stared at the floor. There was silence for a moment before she answered.

"…Yeah… We were… comrades… for a time," she finally replied. Liam saw that her dark green eyes were unfocused and distant. She had known him, might have even been a girlfriend of his. "He was Jett's partner." Liam turned his head toward the bridge, where Jett had disappeared. 

"Why didn't you kill me?" Liam asked.

"…I… I dunno…"

"Because I look like him?" he snapped. Faye looked up at Liam, astonished by the venomous tone in his voice.

"Did you know him?" she asked.

"No," Liam replied, looking away.

"Why do you hate him then?"

"Because I didn't know him."


	4. Spike

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AN: Here's the last of the prewritten material… Now I need to go watch some Bebop for inspiration for the next chapter… I know what I want to happen, but I'm not sure how to get it to that point. ^^;;

Disclaimer: Yare, yare, I don't own bebop, now shoo you evil lawyers.

***

Faye yawned and stared at their young captive for a while. He wasn't very talkative. She had tried to pry more info out of him about Spike, but he had fallen silent and refused to answer her. She wasn't exactly sure what they were going to do with him. They couldn't exactly let him go, but she didn't really like the idea of killing him either. She sighed and thought about Ed. They hadn't seen her in almost eleven years. Faye didn't think that she knew Spike was dead, and she hoped that Jett would be the one to break the news to her. Above, she heard a hissing sound that told her Jett was back, and a loud squeal immediately following implied that Ed was with him.

"Oi! This is heavy!" Jett complained, coming down the stairs, carrying a suitcase.

"Quit being a wimp, Jett!" the reply came, followed by a giggle. Liam's eyes grew a little larger as he watched a long pair of tan legs come down the stairs, followed by a lithe body and a red head with golden eyes attached. This was the famous "Radical Edward"? She put the computer she had been carrying, down on the table and grinned at Faye.

"Hi Faye-faye," she said. Faye rolled her eyes and smiled.

"You're twenty-four now, you think maybe you could grow up a little?"

"Nah, grown-ups are no fun," Ed answered, turning her attention toward Liam. "Hi Liam." Everyone jumped in surprise at Ed's sudden use of Liam's name.

"Ed, how'd you know that was his name?" Faye asked. Ed shrugged.

"He's got green eyes, so he couldn't be Spike…" Ed replied. "The only other person around that looks like Spike would be Liam, and he's got green eyes."

"What? How do you know me?" Liam asked, alarmed. Ed smiled softly at him.

"I hacked into the Red Dragon files, looking for info on Faye, Jett, and Spike's whereabouts. It told me where Faye and Jett were, but when I asked for Spike, you popped up… I'm glad you're okay."

"Huh?"

"They were planning on killing you."

"Jett?" Faye inquired, glancing at him. Jett shook his head.

"Not us, I didn't quite like the idea of killing him, myself…" Jett said.

"Me neither," Faye replied.

"No, no, not you two. Red Dragon." Liam blinked.

"What?"

"Red Dragon, they want you dead, or at least, out of the picture, that's why there's a bounty on your head," Ed replied a-matter-of-factly. 

"WHAT?!?" Liam practically shouted. Ed cringed and looked toward Jett.

"…That was him?" Jett asked. Ed nodded an affirmative. "When I went out to pick up Ed, there was a bounty notice on the vid-screens, for a Liam Arkwright. Wanted for selling company secrets and killing two employees of Red Dragon… Is that you?"

"…Huh? I… I didn't kill anyone in Red Dragon, or sell any secrets… What are you talking about?" Liam said, looking confused.

"We better leave Jett," Ed suggested. "I'll explain it all to you when we're away from the surface." Jett nodded and headed toward the bridge. "You could at least, uncuff him…" she said, nodding toward Liam's restraints.

"Are you sure, Ed? He was sent to kill the two of us," Faye said, gesturing in the direction that Jett had gone.

"Actually he was sent to kill all three of us, but I don't think he can do much with that shoulder," Ed replied cheerfully. Liam coughed loudly, how did she know all of this?

"Well, he's a trained assassin, Ed. His shoulder being hurt shouldn't matter…" Faye replied uncertainly.

"Oh, he won't kill us. We still have info on the bounty on his head, and if he kills us, he won't get that info," Ed reasoned, as she unlocked the handcuffs. "Right?"

Liam rubbed his wrists and thought for a second. Ed was right, she knew things that he wanted to know, and it wasn't likely that she'd tell him if her friends were killed. Why should he kill them anyway? If Red Dragon had a price on his head, he didn't work for them anymore, did he? Faye watched him warily, but said nothing.

"We're entering orbit, we should be… Why did you uncuff him?" Jett said as he re-entered the room. Ed shrugged and handed Liam the pack of cigarettes that were sitting on the table. Liam blinked and stared at the pack. Ed seemed to know a lot more about him than he did about her. She smiled at him and leaned over, turning the vid-screen on. Liam pulled a cigarette out and stuck it in his mouth. He glanced around for something to light it with, but Ed was already holding a flame out for him. Liam raised an eyebrow and lit his cigarette; there was something strange about this girl.

"Well, since we're on our way away from the planet, I guess I can tell you what's going on," Ed said, closing the lighter and handing it to Liam. "A month ago, my father died. So, since I was pretty much alone, and bored, I decided to look up my old comrades from the Bebop. Well, I did a standard search for all three of you, and came up with two classified ISSP files and three huge files on the Red Dragon databases, which weren't classified, but definitely not open to the public. Well, that never really stopped me before, so I hacked into the bigger Red Dragon files. I found out where you two were and what you were doing." Ed stopped and took a breath; then she smiled at Liam and continued.

"The third file was the biggest and hardest to hack into. I figured it was Spike's file, since he used to be in Red Dragon. I didn't know he was dead…" she stopped for a second. "Anyway, it ended up being the files on Liam Arkwright, and everything related to him. I didn't understand why I had come up with Liam's files when I did a search for Spike Spiegel until I came across this…" Ed pulled a computer disc out of her pocket and inserted it into the Bebop's computer terminal. She opened a video file called 'succession1.vid'. The screen showed a large office, that Liam recognised as the 124th floor office of Thakur. Thakur and another person that Liam didn't recognise were there, talking. It looked like it was security tape. Ed turned the sound up.

__

"…doesn't realise the rules. At least, as far as I know, no one has told him…." The unidentified man said.

"Well, that's good for us then, isn't it?" Thakur replied.

"What about that guy that took him in? Mike Secrist? He hasn't told him?"

"Not as far as I know. Liam seems to be rather oblivious when it comes to the succession rules."

"Well, how exactly does he fit into them?"

"Okay, the original three Dragons were killed before choosing a successor, so the person that killed them became leader. That was Vicious. Then, Vicious died before choosing a successor. So the person that killed him became leader, that was Spike Spiegel. However, Spike died from his wounds in the battle with Vicious, so technically, Vicious killed him. Seeing as Vicious, obviously, couldn't take over, it moves to the next of kin, that is a member of Red Dragon."

"But Liam wasn't a member or Red Dragon until four years ago…"

"His grandfather is Robert Arkwright…"

"Oh… Shit… So when he's eighteen…"

"Yeah."

"When does he turn eighteen?"

"In about five months."

"Bloody hell. So what are we going to do?"

"Get rid of him."

"Why? Can't we just, not tell him? I mean, if he doesn't know…"

"Idiot! Everyone knows he's Spike's kid… And everyone knows the rules… There'll be a coup if we don't get rid of him-"

The video faded and went black. Liam turned to Ed with wide eyes.

"Are they saying that I'm supposed to be the next leader of Red Dragon? Because me father died without a successor and no one killed him, so it goes to me?"

Ed nodded. Jett and Faye looked at each other, and then at Liam. This was too weird.

"You're Spike's _SON_?" Faye and Jett said at the same time. Ed started laughing and fell off the table.

"You mean you couldn't tell?" she said in between chuckles.

"Well, it was rather odd…" Jett started.

"That he looked so much like Spike, but we didn't think…" Faye continued.

"That Spike even had kids…" Jett finished. They looked at Liam.

"…He didn't know about me…" Liam said quietly. "My grandfather is Robert Arkwright… He's a big business owner in downtown Crater City, and a member of Red Dragon. Me mum, Melinda Arkwright, met Spike and they had a fling."

"Wait, what about Julia?" Faye interrupted.

"This was before Julia," Ed replied. Liam nodded.

"Mum got pregnant and had me. Spike met Julia shortly after she got pregnant, so Mum didn't see 'im, thus couldn't tell 'im… Then we found out when I was about six that 'e 'ad died, and that was it." Liam took a long drag from his cigarette, inhaling deeply. He stared at the floor, seemingly lost in his thoughts.

"Your mom died when you were still young, didn't she?" Ed asked. Liam looked up at her.

"…Yeah."

"And you lived with your uncle?"

"…It's all in the file, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is… That's where you got that scar isn't it?" Ed replied, gesturing to his face. Liam looked away again, his bright green eyes unfocused and distant.

"…'E was a drunk… and liked to 'it fings… Me grandfather wasn't too 'appy with 'aving a bastard around, so he let me uncle watch out for me… Then Mike come along, and killed me uncle cos' he owed money to Red Dragon, and wasn't paying up. Mike took me in, then when I turned sixteen, it was pretty obvious who I was related to," Liam finished, his accent had started thickening.

"So, what are we going to do?" Jett asked, looking from Ed to Liam. Liam reached for his shirt and hissed in pain, pulling his arm back.

"I don't expect anyfing from you. You can turn me in for the bounty, or you can drop me off at the nearest planet. It's all the same to me…" he replied, feigning nonchalance. Faye raised an eyebrow.

"How much was the bounty?"

"Faye!" Ed exclaimed, glaring at her.

"Fifteen million woolongs," Jett replied, glancing at her.

Faye whistled. "Fifteen million? Wow…"

"I can't believe you two are actually contemplating this. He's Spike's son, you can't even be considering it!" Ed scolded them.

"Don't do me any favours just cos Spike Spiegel is me dad, 'kay? I never knew 'im enough to call 'im that, or for people to do me favours because of it," Liam growled and stood up.

"Well Faye, I guess that's it… We'll be beating the bounty hunters off by the dozen you know…"

"Yeah, I know, but hey… I was bored with Mars anyway," Faye replied, lighting a cigarette of her own. Jett smiled and nodded to Ed.

"Alright, for Ed's sake, not Spike's, we'll help you out. Okay?"

Liam turned at looked at the three people staring at him. Why were they doing this? For heaven's sake, two of them had contracts on their heads for informing on Red Dragon, the organisation that seemed to have placed him in a position of power, whether it knew it or not. He knew that no matter what they said, they were doing it because they had known his father. Was Spike Spiegel such a person that they would stick their necks out willingly for his child… just because?

Liam shook his head. "Bloody hell…"


	5. Where to?

Liam sat still; staring at the table in front of him blankly as Ed peeled the bandages off his shoulder carefully. He pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and sighed, then winced.

"Ouch."

Ed grimaced and dropped the bloody bandages on the table. "Sorry about that…" she murmured, inspecting the wound.

"S'okay," he replied softly, as Ed began to clean the wound with a damp cloth. The two were silent for a moment. "Ed?"

"Yeah?"

"If you knew I was Liam, why did you call me Spike?"

"…Habit I guess… I just saw someone with fluffy green hair and I immediately thought Spike. I only found out he was dead a few days ago."

"I see… Why did you send that virus to the Red Dragon after you went through the database?"

"What virus?" Liam turned his head and winced again.

"The one they told… Okay, maybe they were lying, but I was told you hacked the database and then left a virus that wiped 1/3 of the databanks."

"Oh that… I didn't do that. They did. After I had gotten all that info on you, they freaked out and deleted it, so that no one could show it to you. I guess that's why they wanted us dead… We knew Spike pretty well, and could probably cause problems, not to mention I knew too much and Faye and Jett were ISSP informers," Ed replied cheerfully. She put the cloth down on the table and picked up the disinfectant. "This is gonna hurt…" she warned. Liam nodded.

Ed waited a moment and then washed the wound with disinfectant. Liam hissed in pain, but didn't move. It was silent again as Ed began to re-bandage his shoulder.

"…What happened to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"The scars on your back and chest…"

"…I'd rather not talk about them."

"Sorry…"

The silence settled back in again.

"…So what's your real name?"

Ed blinked. "What?"

"You're real name. What is it?"

"…Ed."

Liam raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Well, I think my father used to call me Francis, but he had a memory like a sieve, so I'm just Ed."

"Oh."

"Why don't you go by Liam Spiegel?"

"Cos I don't want to be stuck in the shadow of a man I never knew. Though it seems that I can't avoid it, no matter what my last name is…"

"Oh, it's not so bad, is it? Spiegel is a very nice last name in my opinion," Ed told him, smiling.

"It probably wouldn't be so bad if I didn't look like him…" Liam muttered.

"All done," Ed told him. Liam glanced at his shoulder and then nodded his thanks to Ed. "Looking like Spike can't be all that bad… He wasn't an un-handsome person…" Ed replied carefully.

Liam smirked and raised an eyebrow. "You had a crush on him?"

Ed turned red and looked away from the seventeen-year-old. "No," she said quickly and stood up. "I was only thirteen when I knew Spike… He was twenty-seven and besides, we all could tell he had the hots for Faye." She crossed her arms haughtily looked out the window. Liam shook his head and finished his cigarette. Jett walked into the room and glanced from one person to the other.

"What's going on? You two have a fight?" he asked. Liam shrugged and Ed pursed her lips as she walked out of the room.

"So what's the plan?" Liam asked Jett as he stood up. Jett tossed him a brown T-shirt.

"We're going to Ganymede to see if we can find out exactly what Red Dragon is accusing you of…" Jett replied. Liam looked at the brown shirt in his hands and frowned.

"Where's my shirt?"

"Faye is trying to get the blood out of it… and fix the bullet hole in the shoulder."

"Oh," he said as he pulled the shirt carefully over his head. Liam winced as pain shot through his shoulder, but grit his teeth and finished pulling the rather large piece of clothing on. Jett stared at the shirt for a moment and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Liam asked.

"…We're gonna need to find some other clothing for you… My stuff is way too big for you," Jett replied. Liam stared down at his chest and saw that the shirt was extremely baggy, probably due to the fact that Jett was built much larger than him.

"So why Ganymede?" Liam asked, ignoring the weird look he received from Faye as she sauntered into the room.

"I have contacts there and the bounty hunters tend to commune around Mars, Earth, and Venus more than Jupiter," Jett told him. "So it ought to be a bit safer for you to wander around on."

"I see," Liam answered as he sat back down on the couch. He put his legs up on the table and closed his eyes.

"Going to sleep?" Faye asked, sitting down opposite of him. Liam opened one eye and gazed at her sleepily.

"Not if I can help it. I tend to close my eyes when I'm thinking." Faye just glanced at Jett and the two sniggered. "What?"

"Nothing…" Jett said.

"You know, we could just find some of Spike's old clothes and disguise him," Faye chortled.

"That might actually work."

Liam opened both eyes slightly and glared at Faye through his half-opened eyelids. It was obvious he did not find his similarities to Spike amusing.

"No, I'm serious," Jett ventured. "Spike may be dead for about 12 years now, but it's not a really well-known fact. Unless you're Red Dragon, or you knew him really well. We could very easily pass Liam off as Spike, and could probably get a lot of info out of people that we couldn't normally get."

"It could work…" Faye contemplated. Liam closed his eyes again.

"No," he said simply.

"What?"

"I won't do it. The answer is no."

"Come on Liam, this is not the time to be choosy. We know you don't like being associated with Spike, but using your likeness to him could be a real advantage to getting info on your situation."

"What about my accent?"

"Well, you can't tell it's there most of the time, unless you really listen for it," Faye pointed out.

"Yeah, and you could wear sunglasses to hide your eyes. We'll just make up some bullshit story about the scar," Jett continued. Ed walked back into the room.

"It won't fool Red Dragon," Ed declared, sitting down near Faye.

"Why not?" Jett inquired. Ed opened Tomato on the table and shrugged.

"His hair is a lighter colour and his skin is a darker tone," she replied.

"What? I didn't even know that, how would they?" Jett argued.

"They're professionals, Jett. They're trained and paid to notice that sort of thing."

"What about on Ganymede? Do you think the Red Dragon operatives there would know that?"

"Maybe, maybe not. You never know when you'll run into someone who knew Spike, by reputation or in person. It may not be wide-spread that he's dead, but it's not exactly a secret either."

"She's got a point, Jett," Faye agreed.

"Fine. What do you think Liam? …Liam?"

"He's asleep…" Ed told them, glancing at the green-haired boy from over the top of her computer screen. Faye shook her head.

"I feel so bad," Faye said.

"Why?"

"Because I do nothing but see his similarities to Spike. We do nothing but compare him to someone he never met. It must be annoying for him."

"Probably," Jett replied. "He is rather like Spike though."

"Yeah, but he's still not Spike. He looks like Spike and moves like Spike and has a few of Spike's behaviours, but he's his own person. He's not Spike," Ed pointed out quietly.

"You're right… but it's still going to be really hard not to think of him as Spike…" Jett conceded.

***

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AN: Kinda a short chapter. They'll get to Ganymede then the fun stuff starts. ^_^ I'm glad you guys like Liam. I wasn't really trying to pull a Spike comeback, but Liam tends to act like his dad, whether I want him to or not. ^^;; If anyone is interested, I have sketches of Ed at 24 and Liam on my domain right now. You can find them here:

http://ellone-loire.net/nevermore/art/liamsketch1.jpg

http://ellone-loire.net/nevermore/art/liamsketch2.jpg

http://ellone-loire.net/hitokirinome/artists/rhyein/edsketch.jpg

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I also have some pics of Spike that I edited to look like Liam, if you're interested, email me @ rhyein@hotmail.com

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-Rhyein


	6. To Ganymede

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AN: Sorry it took so long. Liam has been kinda quiet lately and Spike, Faye and Auron (from FFX) have been pretty loud. ^^;; I'll try to get the next chapter out a little sooner!

-Rhyein

***

"We should be on Ganymede in a few days or so. It's not a long trip from Mars," Ed said as she placed the plate in front of Liam. He looked down at the food and sighed. He wasn't really all that hungry, but Ed seemed very adamant about taking care of him. Which was kind of a new experience for him, seeing as no one had ever really taken care of him since he was about eight.

"Promise me this _won't_ be like old times, Jett…" Faye remarked as she sat down across from Liam. "I don't want to be able to claim that I haven't eaten in days when we get there."

"Claim _what_?" Liam asked, raising an eyebrow. Faye smiled at him.

"Oh, we used to starve regularly on this ship, right Ed?"

"Yup!" Ed replied cheerfully. Jett rolled his eyes and began to eat, ignoring the two women. Ed smiled at Liam and then began to ravage her own plate; Faye put out her cigarette and began to eat as well; Liam only stared at his plate blankly.

"Not hungry?" Jett asked, looking up from his food. Liam shrugged and picked at one of the bell peppers. He tentatively took a bite, and was surprised that it wasn't too horrible to the taste-buds. He really wasn't all that hungry though. He put his chopsticks down and sighed, watching everyone else eat.

"Whassamatter?" Faye inquired.

"I'm not hungry."

Everyone looked up at him in shock.

"Seriously?" Faye asked.

"Yeah… Why is that so surprising?"

"Cos Spike loved to eat," she replied. Liam grimaced and stood up.

"Maybe… but I'M. NOT. SPIKE," he said loudly, punctuating each word. Faye flinched and leaned backward into her chair.

"…Sorry…" she murmured. Ed watched the exchange and could tell that Liam was trying very hard not to lose his temper completely. He finally sighed in frustration and left the room, moving toward the hanger. Ed looked at Jett and Faye and then stood up to follow him.

"I'd leave him alone, Ed. He needs some time to himself," Jett told her. Ed thought for a second and then followed Liam out of the room. Jett sighed. "That girl has only gotten more frustrating with age."

***

Liam walked into the hangar and began to pace. _Why do they have to keep comparing me to him? I've been compared to him my whole life and I've never even met him! God, I HATE him! I HATE HIM! I HATE HIM!_

"I HATE YOU!" Liam shouted at the roof of the hanger. "I'M NOT YOU! YOU'RE A BASTARD WHO LEFT MY MOTHER FOR ANOTHER WOMAN! YOU LEFT HER! I HATE YOU!" Liam collapsed on the floor, holding his head in his hands.

"Feel better now?"

Liam's head jerked in the direction of the voice. He saw Ed standing in the doorway.

"What do you want?" he growled, looking away from her. Ed walked a little further into the hanger.

"You shouldn't hate him you know…"

"Why not?"

"He didn't know about you. He didn't leave your mother. He broke up with her. That happens between people who date. If he had known about you, I'm sure he wouldn't have left. Spike wasn't the type to do that sort of thing."

"Whatever Ed, you can't possibly understand how I feel," Liam replied bitterly.

"…My father took me to a day care when I was six, and forgot about me for seven years… I found him again when I was part of the Bebop crew, and you know what? He saw me, remembered me for about five minutes and then left again, without me… It took me a year and a half, without the Bebop, to find him again. When he died… He couldn't even remember my name."

Liam remained silent and stared at the Red Tail, which was sitting in the hanger.

"I may not completely understand what it's like to be constantly compared to someone you never knew, but I do understand what it's like to be abandoned… and what it's like to alone… and what it's like not to have a father, or a mother… As a matter of fact, so does Faye, and even Jett understands a little. You just need to give them time to get used to you being around. Spike was Jett's partner for four years, and Faye was in love with him. It should take a while for them to get used to having a Spike-look-alike around. Give them a break, okay?"

"…Fine."

"Good." She turned to leave, but stopped in the doorway. "…Oh, Liam?"

"Hmm?"

"How does Robert Arkwright being your grandfather change anything about the succession?"

"…He was a syndicate member. He had what we call a 'family membership', meaning that all his children, grandchildren, etc, were technically members of the syndicate the moment they're born. It's up to them whether or not to pursue into that area of the family business when they get older though. So technically I've been a member of Red Dragon since I was born."

"How does one get a 'family membership'?"

"It's when two syndicate members get married. An example would be if Spike married Julia, they would have become 'family members'. Spike being in line for the succession guaranteed him a family membership anyway."

"I see… I'll wrap up your food and put it in the fridge. Jett got a food heater installed on the ship, so if you get hungry later, you can just heat it up and eat it. 'Kay?"

"Sure."

"Great." Ed smiled at him and began to leave.

"Ed?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks…"

"No problem."

***

"…Jett?"

Jett looked up from his plate and blinked at Faye. "What?"

"…With Liam… Do you… Do you feel like it's a second chance too?" she asked carefully, not wanting to sound too much like an idiot. Jett just smiled softly.

"I get what you mean… Yeah, I feel it too, but Liam doesn't seem to like that."

"I've noticed."

"I just hope we can help him out. Help him the way we didn't help Spike…" Jett's voice faded off and the two were quiet for a while. Ed walked into the room and flinched. She could feel the aura of depression hanging in the room like a veil.

"What's up?" she asked cheerfully, sitting down to finish eating.

"How's Liam?" Faye asked.

"He's okay. I little angry, but he'll live."

"I see."

"What's the matter with you two?"

"Oh, nothing," Faye replied as Jett began collecting plates. Ed stopped him from taking Liam's.

"I told him I'd wrap it up in case he wanted to eat later," she told him. Jett shrugged.

"Alright," he said and left the plate alone. Faye watched as he disappeared toward the kitchen. Faye turned back to Ed.

"This is going to be hard, Ed. I don't know if I can handle him being around," she told the younger woman, her eyes starting to brim with tears.

"I miss Spike too, Faye-Faye, but Liam is not him. He won't ever be him. It'll be hard, but if we want to help Liam, you're going to have to deal with the pain and the grief again."

Faye nodded and sighed, wiping her eyes.

"I'm going to take a shower."

"Okay, just be careful where you wander to on the ship, don't want the 17-year-old to see you," Ed replied craftily and winked. Faye smiled at the red-head and left the room. Ed watched her and then fell backward onto the floor. "I can't wait till he's gone. Things are going to be hell for a while…"


End file.
